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Nemesio de Salcedo (fl. 1804 - 1813) was a Spanish colonial official who served as the Commandant-General of the Provincias Internas, which at the time included much of northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States.
Born into a noble family with a great military tradition, Nemesio was son of Manuel Salcedo Varela and Agustina Serralta Salcedo. Due to his family's nobility and long tradition of loyal service to the Kings of Spain, a special royal dispensation was granted enabling him, whilst still a minor, to enter as a cadet in the Regiment of Royal Spanish Guards, by May 1, 1761. Salcedo was a native of Bilbao in Spain. He was the brother of Juan Manuel de Salcedo, the last governor of Spanish Louisiana, [1] and the uncle of Manuel María de Salcedo, governor of Spanish Texas.
In 1766, he was promoted to captain and transferred to the Regiment of Navarre. He remained with this rank for thirteen years until in 1780 he was again promoted, to sergeant-major, and soon after he was transferred to America during the new war against England begun the previous year.
In 1783 he was awarded the rank of graduate lieutenant-colonel, serving with success in the expedition of Algiers, as well as in the capture of Mobila (present Mobile, Alabama). As a half-battalion commander of his regiment, he took part in the siege and capture of Pensacola, Florida. His military successes and noble position earned him a new promotion in 1790 to colonel in the Infantry Regiment of the Crown of New Spain. In 1794 he was commissioned as mayor of San Luis de Potosí and Zacatecas, where he created two provincial cavalry regiments. As a reward he was promoted again in 1795 to Brigadier and placed in charge of the Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia and of the General Body of Invalids of New Spain.
Nemesio Salcedo's excellent achievements in the administrative and military policy of the viceroyalty, the strength of his command and directives, as well as the unanimous support of all his superiors, including the viceroys themselves, earned him the royal appointment as Commandant General of the Internal Provinces (dated 26 August 1800), succeeding Pedro Grimarest. One of Salcedo's major concerns was to bring order to the defensive measures that had to be taken in Texas, whose problem with the Indians, especially the Comanche, was becoming endemic. Previous military officials of Texas had welcomed American immigrants from anywhere, pleased to increase the sparse and widely-dispersed population of the province. However, the traditional Spanish policy of excluding foreigners and foreign trade was reinstated in Texas under Salcedo's command. In the 1780s and 1790s, when Spanish officials had invited Americans to Louisiana and Florida, private US citizens who ventured into Texas, and deeper into the Internal Provinces, were in danger of apprehension, long imprisonment and even death. Unlike some of his subordinates, Salcedo saw no reason to allow them to trade or settle elsewhere in the Internal Provinces. The foreigners, according to him "are not and will not be anything else than crows that take our eyes out". Unlike his predecessors in Louisiana, Salcedo would not maintain an open-door policy toward foreigners. Nevertheless in spite of Salcedo's unwelcoming policies, many American interlopers were not discouraged. In 1801, even the death of the infamous American contrabandista Philip Nolan, a veteran trafficker of horses stolen from Spanish Texas, and the apprehension of his men at the hands of Spanish troops, did not discourage the influx of Americans. [2]
The position of Commandant General included military responsibilities as well as direction of finance and postal functions in the territory. With little oversight due to the remoteness of the region, he was able to use his position to amass a significant private fortune. [3] His administration occupied a tumultuous period of the region's history, including the Louisiana Purchase, which brought the borders of the United States to the edge of Texas, and the War of Mexican Independence.
The language in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, which had ceded Spanish Louisiana back to France, was vague on the exact location of the border between French and Spanish territory, and this vagueness led to tensions between Spain and the United States. Thomas Jefferson asserted that the newly-purchased American territory extended well into Spanish-claimed lands, to the Rio Grande and Rocky Mountains, and American expeditions set out to survey and explore the border areas. Salcedo was alarmed at American incursions into Spanish territory; he went so far as to send a party to the Pawnees bearing lavish gifts, with the request that they capture American interlopers and bring them to Santa Fe. [4] One group of explorers, in 1806, was turned back while navigating the Red River by Spanish troops. Salcedo had ordered troops sent to the Texas-Louisiana border in advance of a possible confrontation, and by the time of the 1806 incident there were more than 1300 Spanish troops stationed in Texas, with most of those at Nacogdoches. Fortunately for both sides, both sides proceeded with caution. Salcedo ordered his subordinates not to initiate hostilities, while the king of Spain sent orders to make every effort to solve disputes peacefully. A neutral ground agreement was negotiated that prevented open hostilities between the two sides. [5] In the meantime, Salcedo closed the Texas border to immigration from Louisiana; even Spanish immigrants were barred from entering via this route, being required instead to enter via Veracruz, and only with the permission of the viceroy. [6]
The next major event in Salcedo's administration was the Mexican War of Independence. When war broke out in the south of Mexico, Salcedo made every effort to prevent it from spreading into his territory in the north. While his military achievements were not notable, he did superintend the trial and execution of the insurgent leader Miguel Hidalgo in 1811. [3] Despite his efforts, the revolution spread into the Provincias Internas; among the casualties of the fighting was his nephew Manuel, who was one of the royalist leaders executed after the Battle of Rosillo Creek in 1813.
Though some sources report Nemesio Salcedo among the casualties at the Battle of Rosillo Creek (in addition to his nephew), this is in error. He was recalled to Spain in 1813, after which the Provincias Internas were divided into eastern and western parts. He was succeeded in the east by José Joaquín de Arredondo. [7]
Zebulon Montgomery Pike was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first in 1805–1806 to reconnoiter the upper northern reaches of the Mississippi River, and then in 1806–1807 to explore the southwest to the fringes of the northern Spanish-colonial settlements of New Mexico and Texas. Pike's expeditions coincided with other Jeffersonian expeditions, including the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Red River Expedition in 1806.
Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1690 until 1821. The term "interior provinces" first appeared in 1712, as an expression meaning "far away" provinces. It is only in 1776 that a legal jurisdiction called "Interior Provinces" is created.
José Joaquín de Arredondo y Mioño (1776–1837) was a 19th-century Spanish and Mexican soldier who served during the last two decades of Spanish rule in New Spain. He was military commandant of the Texas province during the first Texas revolutions against Spanish rule.
The Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition was an 1812–1813 joint filibustering expedition by Mexico and the United States against Spanish Texas during the early years of the Mexican War of Independence.
Teodoro de Croix was a Spanish soldier and colonial official in New Spain and Peru. From April 6, 1784 to March 25, 1790 he was viceroy of Peru.
Manuel María de Salcedo y Quiroga,, was a governor of Spanish Texas from 1808 until his execution in 1813. Salcedo gained leadership experience helping his father Juan Manuel de Salcedo, the 11th and last Spanish governor of Louisiana,. In 1807, the younger Salcedo was appointed governor of Texas, and he officially assumed that role on November 7, 1808. As governor, he and his uncle Nemesio Salcedo, the Commandant General of the Interior Provinces, often disagreed, especially on immigration issues.
The Battle of Rosillo Creek was a conflict between the Republican Army of the North and Spanish Royalist forces which occurred on March 29, 1813 in Coahuila y Tejas. The battle took place during the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition, a filibustering campaign which took place during the Mexican War of Independence.
The Provincias Internas, also known as the Comandancia y Capitanía General de las Provincias Internas, was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire created in 1776 to provide more autonomy for the frontier provinces of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, present-day northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States. The goal of its creation was to establish a unified government in political, military and fiscal affairs. Nevertheless, the Commandancy General experienced significant changes in its administration because of experimentation to find the best government for the frontier region as well as bureaucratic in-fighting. Its creation was part of the Bourbon Reforms and was part of an effort to invigorate economic and population growth in the region to stave off encroachment on the region by foreign powers. During its existence, the Commandancy General encompassed the Provinces of Sonora y Sinaloa, Nueva Vizcaya, Las Californias, Nuevo México, Nuevo Santander, Nuevo Reyno de León, Coahuila and Texas.
Francisco Ignacio Elizondo Villarreal,, was a royalist military officer during the Mexican war of independence against Spain. He is mostly known for his capture of insurgent leaders Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, José Mariano Jiménez, and Juan Aldama at the Wells of Baján, Coahuila in 1811. Initially a supporter of Mexican independence who converted to the royalist cause, Elizondo is sometimes compared to the American Benedict Arnold. In 1813, after a successful campaign against rebel armies he was assassinated by one of his junior officers.
Juan Bautista Elguézabal (1741–1805) was the temporary ruler of the Spanish province of Texas in 1797, and the Governor of Texas from 1800 to 1805. He also temporarily ruled the province of Louisiana in 1803. Elguézabal favored the increase of the population of Texas through the immigration from Louisiana, as well as the foundation of the first schools of primary education in the province, which were established in San Antonio and La Bahía
Manuel Antonio Cordero y Bustamante was a Spanish soldier and politician who served as acting governor of Coahuila, governor of the same province (1798–1817), acting governor of Texas (1805–1808) and governor of the province of Sonora and Sinaloa.
Simón de Herrera y Leyva (1754–1813) was a lifelong political and military professional for Spain, primarily in the lands known as New Spain and at times ventured to Europe. He became an interim governor of Spanish Texas at San Antonio and a governor of Nuevo León.
Bernardo Bonavía y Zapata was a Spanish soldier and political figure who was in a variety of political positions in New Spain. The positions included Corregidor of a Mexican province (1789), Governor-Intendant of Durango, and Military Commander of Texas (1809-1812). He was also a Caballero de Alcántara. He was appointed the Governor of Texas in 1786, but he did not accept the position because he was busy in administrative roles in other places. During his political administration in New Spain, Bonavía promoted the liberalization of trade and commerce under the orders of Charles III, King of Spain.
Juan Manuel de Salcedo was the 11th and final governor of Spanish Louisiana, from 1801–1803. He was governor at the time of the cession of the Louisiana territory to France in fulfillment of the terms of the Treaty of San Ildefonso.
Mariano Valera was a Novohispanic military man who served as a captain in Guajoquilla, Coahuila, lieutenant governor of Manuel Maria de Salcedo in Texas, chief of the Texas government department, and commander of the military garrisons that defended the province's presidios. He also served, briefly, as interim governor of Texas in 1815, replacing Cristóbal Domínguez, as did his predecessor Benito Armiñán, although he only governed for a week or one year.